Madison

Naomi Osaka lost just one game as she outplayed Anastasija Sevastova to reach the Canadian Open quarter-finals in Montreal.

The four-time Grand Slam champion took just 49 minutes to wrap up a 6-1 6-0 victory against the 35-year-old Latvian, who had knocked out defending champion Jessica Pegula in the previous round.

Japan’s Osaka, a winner twice at the US and Australian Opens, is seeking her first title since returning from maternity leave early in 2024.

The 27-year-old parted with coach Patrick Mouratoglou after less than a year and is now working with Poland’s Tomasz Wiktorowski, former coach of Iga Swiatek.

“I had a solid plan coming in here and it just happened to work out pretty well,” said Osaka, currently ranked 49 in the world.

American Madison Keys had to fight back to beat Czech Karolina Muchova 4-6 6-3 7-5 in two hours and 20 minutes.

The Englishman, born to a Albanian father and a British-Yemeni mother, became hooked on the sport when his mum brought him to a boxing gym aged five.

“I was doing loads of sports at the time. But when I started sparring at about nine I just fell in love with it,” he says.

“The first time I got punched I thought ‘I have to get him back’. I used to get angry when I’d get hit. You have to learn to take one and land two in a minute.”

Maca caught the eye of Matchroom because of his remarkable amateur record. He has seven titles in the junior ranks, including five national titles.

He also won a silver medal at the IBA World Junior Championships representing Albania in 2023.

While he was earmarked to be a potential Olympian, he has long had his sights on linking up with Hearn – even cornering him at an event with fellow future Matchroom fighter and heavyweight Leo Atang.

“We didn’t get ringside [tickets] back then,” Maca jokes. “We spoke to Eddie and said we wanted to sign with him one day. He said, ‘come to me when you’re a bit older, boys’. And now here we are.”

Like Maca, Atang will make his professional bow as an 18-year-old. He fights on Jack Catterall’s undercard in Manchester in July.